Reading these mails have educated me a lot on this condition – better advice her than most doctors that I have visited. I’m trying to figure out my triggers – one question though on this – how do you know what triggers a break-out – does it happen in mins/hours or days after you eat or are in touch with a trigger?

Also, have any of the men here found really good products that you use, especially for shaving – shaving cream, balm or moisturizer?

Thanks for your help.

I do love using Clinique’s Superdefense sunsreen 25 spf(oily to combo oily) on my face and neck and ears everyday. I live in AZ and we need it hear all year. Also at night I have been using Clinique’s Redness Solutions which is good too. I have seen a difference over time in the redness in my face – it has definitely decreased over the years and these products I truely believe have helped.

I have tried some organic products – but I made a mistake and some had peppermint in them which is a big mistake for our skin condition of rosasea and flared up my skin in two days – so I returned them and said no thanks and went back to Clinique, my old favorite and loyal producer of skin products. Just to let everyone know – organic is not always the best choice – just make sure you read all the ingredients and stay clear of any ginger, peppermint, orange, citric stuff which will definitely cause flare-ups.

I do love the new Aveeno line too which I can buy at Target which is a lot cheaper than the mall for Clinique. I use their lotion on my body and I have just purchased their sunblock line and spray on sunblock as well which works great too. I still like the Clinique Superdefence sunscreen 25 spf b/c it is not greasy and it lasts all day long.

I also use Euercin’s Aquaphor healing ointment – advaned theraphy which can be found at drugstores too. This was recommended to me by a dermatologist also and he gave me free samples at the office b/c I had a bad lip flare up last summer.

My flareup also occurred on the tops of my hands and lip area. It was due to steaming hot water in a spa – so stay clear of those too if you have these skin conditions.

I hope I have given a lot of advice to everybody b/c these are my experiences with some products that have been very successful for me with this skin condition.

I cleanse with a mixture of oat flour and honey powder in the morning and evening. The oat flour is very cheap. I put a teaspoon of flour in my hand and mix in a bit of water. You can add normal honey at this stage maybe quarter of a teaspoon. I then rub gently over my face like any cleanser then leave on like a mask for a few minutes then wash off. Leaves skin feeling very soft.

To moisturise I came to a point after trying so many and then being expected to pay so much for what I wanted that I decided to make my own. It’s very easy. You have a water base and an oil base and then an emulsifier to bond the two bases. It’s just like making mayonaise. You then add whatever additives you want. The ingredients I use after looking through all the posts on this site are:
Water base:
Olive leaf infusion (anti bacterial, anti viral, kills mites etc) with oatmeal 62%
Vegetable glycerin 5%
Aloe juice 5%.
Oil base:
Rosehip oil 10%(dry oil that reduces pore size and includes vit A)
Calendula in jojoba oil 3%(soothing anti inflamatory), Safflower oil 1%(vitamin E anti oxidents)
E Wax NF 8% (this is an emulsifier to bond the water base to the oil base)
Additives:
Zinc oxide 2%
Licorice powder 4%.

(The percentages represent the weight of the final product. I make 100g so it means 62g in weight of water base, 5g Veg Glycerin etc etc. I do 100g because I’m rubbish at maths)

It smells like licorice, (no perfume) but that soon goes. I’ve been using this recipe for three weeks and my skin has never been so healthy. I have no pustules or lumps and bumps and the skin around my nose has gone right down, just thread veins left. I’m going to tinker with it a bit. I’ve ordered some titanium dioxide to add for sun screen.

I suppose what I’ve learnt is that because I can make up small batches (one 100g jar) and keep it in the fridge. I don’t need preservatives or parabens etc which my sensitive skin just can’t handle. I know we are all different so I thought this might be a great way of finding out what really helps. I’m going to try vitamin K in my next batch as well. Also I can mix any ingredient with vegetable glycerin and do a spot test to see if I react before I make a batch.

The ingredients info is all free on the net as are instructions. This site gives you basic recipes and instructions are free including how to make the infusions (essentially like making tea) and the macerated oils, (calundula or another herb of choice chopped and left in oil for three weeks, or heated and left to infuse for an hour)

http://www.glenbrookfarm.com/makinglotions.htm

This support group is great for finding what ingredients will help your skin but if you are anything like me you probably have a good idea of what you need and what you react to. Then I just googled my chosen ingredients to see how best to include them.

The money for all the ingredients I found is around fifty quid, but I can make, I reckon, about twenty jars out of most of them. I will have to keep ordering the oils.

It feels great to be free to do it myself. I feel like I’ve taken some power back. I’m going to tinker and trial them on my skin and I thought share my recipes on here. If anyone else has recipes they have tried I would love to hear about them.

Hope this helps, Liz